Slug Dance
by Quinquereme
Summary: She'd be forever remembered as the Kage who'd punched a child during a war meeting. Rewriting of chapter 491 of the manga.


Here's something I did for class (believe it or not). This is a small rewriting of the scene in Kumo, where all the Kages (including Tsunade, newly awakened) meet up to discuss their plans for the upcoming war. Takes place in ch491 of the manga. Enjoy! :)

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><p><strong>Slug Dance<strong>

They watched in horror as her fist collided with his jaw. It was magnificent, someone would later say, when no one important was around to hear, it was absolutely terrifying.

The mistake was hers, they all knew. But the situation had been precarious, and the last thing the Hokage had seen before she'd opened her eyes to the living world was the sight of her beloved village being smashed into bits, and the piles of dead growing higher. And before that, Jiraiya, dead. And she, all spent, the most powerful kuniochi in the world.

But now she was awake and alive, and damn them if they thought they could wrestle the fate of her village away from her. Especially this little kid.

"Kazekage!"

He was sprawled on the floor, but only for a moment. The youngest of the assembled Kages rose and rubbed his chin. He raised his gaze to meet hers, accusingly. He knew she knew, but was not willing to understand. Now was not the time for rash action. Around them, the others half-rose from their seats, shocked and disapproving. And for a moment, Mifune was stung with the realization that maybe they wouldn't win this thing after all. Between the Kages, disunity was death.

The Kazekage stared at them all with the most unnerving green eyes. He spoke simply.

"We cannot always get what we want, Hokage."

The Hokage glared at him, tightened her fist. No, certainly not.

He explained everything again, as if she hadn't flown into a rage and knocked him to the floor. The others just stared and did not speak, unsure of the consequences of their words.

"Sending the tailed beasts into battle would indeed increase our military strength," he said. "But that's the same thing as handing them over to Akatsuki. Hiding them is the best option we have."

"We have one chance. If we don't strike now, we die." They did not hear her voice shake. "We die, you little punk!" She slammed her fist into the table, causing a slight crack on the surface. The Raikage, whose office they were meeting in, squinted in annoyance.

"This is a war," repeated the Kazekage, "to protect Naruto and Bee."

"Sit down," said Mifune.

They did not.

"I know Naruto. He will do absolutely anything for the sake of his comrades." The part on his face she'd punched began to swell.

For a moment, she considered the unavoidable truth of what he'd said. Naruto, the boy who wanted to become Hokage. Briefly, his ridiculous whiskered face flashed into her vision, punching the air with his fist, screaming _Granny Tsunade_, _I will be Hokage someday!_ Inwardly, she frowned, because Gaara was right. He _would_ do anything for them, including walk right into Uchiha Madara's clutches.

Jiraiya must have been laughing from heaven, she thought later, at her, the impudent Slug-princess who for all her immortal beauty had absolutely no grace when it came to these things. She'd be forever remembered as the Kage who'd punched a child in the face at a war meeting because he'd openly opposed her, only to grudgingly agree with him in the end.

Because she knew Naruto well, too.

Mifune cleared his throat. "Disunity—"

"Enough." She stepped towards the Kazekage and put a hand on the swelling. It was gone a moment later, and she returned to her chair and sat down, silent.

After a few moments, the Raikage, brown and large, cleared his throat.

"Okay. So, we hide the hachibi and the kyuubi. No objections, Hokage?"

Tsunade nodded and stared out the window. In the seat next to her, the Tsuchikage, old and pruney, laughed.

"It seems the impudent Slug-princess is in good health, after all."

Up in heaven, Jiraiya did not laugh. He grinned, however, before taking a swig from his giant bottle of sake, because he knew Tsunade, and that there was a bit of grace in there somewhere, despite her penchant for beating people up, and the fact that she never apologized, not even to the Kazekage.


End file.
